Not sure if this has been done before but give us your best tips/advice for potty training success

[AnyoneForPimms]

Hi,

I am "biting the bullet" and starting to potty train DD2 today.(2.11)

With 2 older children you would think I would know what I was doing but I have forgotten how I tackled this before.

We have "big girl" knickers, 2 potties, lots of washing powder and changes of clothes.

She has been pulling down her pull-ups and sitting on the potty for a couple of weeks now but nothing.

She does say wee-wee but I suspect it's after the event!

What are your best tips for success and what advice have you been given that works.

Look forward to hearing your ideas

My top tip? Wait until you child says "Mummy, I don't want to wear nappies any more" Then say "OK, darling, here are some pants and there is the loo" This way avoids stress, irritation, wasting time saying "Do you need a pee/ Are you sure? Shall we just try?" every 5 minutes, and wet carpets.

Ignore anyone who says that your child "should" be "trained" by now.

Don't think of it as training - think of it as developmental - a learning process.

And remember that practically every child is out of nappies by the time they go to school!

Oh, and remember that dry in the day does not mean dry at night - that can be ages - even years later.

that no-one else can share any words of wisdom

I could come up with some more - but they will all be from the " Happy Hippy's Book of Laid Back Parenting" so may not be what you're looking for!

I'd love to, but I tried and gave up!!

Going to try again in a few weeks. If you learn anything can you pass it on?!

Good luck with it.

wait until they are ready is my top tip

not necessarily wait until they come out with seekers phrase - DS would seriously never have said that.

But we tried, and failed. We tried again a few months later - it worked. Nothing was different except the child being ready. So I seriously reckon it's about timing.

And be chilled - that definitely made it unstressful.

Take off the nappy and stay in the house / garden without any pants/bottoms on for 2 days. The first few wees may be on the ground but they soon catch on. This worked a treat for me and there were no accidents at home after day 2.
Best advice I got was not to use pull-ups but go from nappies to pants. That way there is no confusion as you get wet if you do not use the loo.
/hope this helps

hmm I don't know/can't remember very well but I was talking to my sister about this the other day as her DD is coming up to being 2 and I recommended having comfy potty like this upstairs and downstairs. Letting DD go pant-less or certainly trouserless in the house so she could take herslef to the potty and do a wee which saves all the nagging of 'do you need a wee'. Put a small potty in the back of your car for those 'I need a wee NOW' emergencies and you can pop it under your stroller if you are out for a while. I never bothered with those pads you can use in the car seat/buggy but did put a carrier bag and towel down under them in the car seat in the early days. Stock up on Dettol spray and patience!

I agree with seeker. Also, invite a slightly older, toilet trained little friend to play regularly for about a week. Yours will copy them. Job done.

If it all goes wrong first time, don't hesitate to pack it in and start again in a few weeks. Gives you both thinking time.

Definitely wait until they are ready. And if they are ready but not at the asking stage and you want to hurry them along, dairy free chocolate button for every performance worked wonders for us.

I never did any of the asking if they want to go every 5 minutes stuff with DS1. I think it is important to let them find out that if they do not go to the potty/toilet they get wet pants. As far as possible make them undress/redress themselves and put their own dirty washing in the correct place.

Basically stick and carrot, I suppose.

Bribes are good. Even if you don't do them as part of your usual parenting iyswim, which I don't.
Waiting til you think they are ready (you are mum, you know) is good.
Remembering that the rest of their behaviour goes to pot in the mean time - I wish I had known that.

When my dd was nearly there, and we had to go out I put a pull-up on OVER her knickers so she GOT that she still had to ask for loo if possible, but if she had an accident, although it felt uncomfortable, there wasn't a flood.

my ds3+6 is not ready yet, I swear. I ask him if he wants to use the toilet soon and he shakes his head in terror. It's gettig ridiculous. I'm going to do it end of July though. He likes to feel 'nY and warm.' eeeoooo/ and if he does a poo, he doesn't mind that either, I have to persuade him to let me change him.

Those Bright Bots pants are good we found - the child still gets wet and needs a change of clothes, but the carpet stays dry. Ideal for going out places.

Ooh the Bright bots look interesting, how do they work? Do they not make they them feel less wet than an ordinary pair or knickers would?

No because it is just a layer of terry with plastic behind. IMO disposable pull up pants are much worse because they absorb so much liquid - these just take a bit more than ordinary pants and they get completely sodden.

Sounds good, thanks theprovincial lady, will look into them.